Why it works: Milk and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Combine the milk, rice, sugar, raisins, and salt in a large bowl, then stir the ingredients together.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake and finish
Bake for about 1.5 hours.
Beat the egg yolk and stir it into the mixture before removing from the oven.
Beat the egg white with a little sugar until frothy, then spread it over the top of the pudding.
Flavor with lemon extract.
Serve cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together565 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Provides the bulk and starch that thickens the pudding as it bakes.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that sets into a custard-like texture.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches the custard and helps it set with a smooth, rich texture.
- Egg white
- Whipped with sugar, it forms a light topping that adds lift and gentle browning.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the egg white whip to a stable froth.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolk before removing the pudding from the oven. Egg yolk thickens when heated, but if the pudding is already set or too hot, it can scramble or curdle, so the yolk should be beaten smoothly and added while the mixture is still fluid.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, rice, sugar, raisin, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, rice, sugar, raisin, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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